CHAPTER 13. PUBLIC BONDED INDEBTEDNESS.

ARTICLE 1. BOND ISSUES FOR ORIGINAL INDEBTEDNESS.

§13-1-1. Political divisions authorized to issue and sell bonds.

Any county, by and through its county court, either for and on behalf of the county or for and on behalf of any magisterial district, or group of magisterial districts therein; any municipal corporation, by and through its council or other governing body in lieu thereof; or any school district, or any independent school district, by and through its Board of Education or other fiscal body in lieu thereof, may issue and sell its bonds, in the manner and subject to the limitations and conditions hereinafter contained in this article.

§13-1-1a. Exemption from interest rate ceilings.

Notwithstanding any other provision in this code to the contrary, any municipality, county or state agency shall be free of interest rate restrictions when obtaining loans from the farmers home administration, housing and urban development and the economic development authority where such loans are made from federal moneys and are made for public projects. It is the intention of the Legislature that the political subdivisions of this state take maximum possible advantage of federal programs and financing alternatives where such would be in the best interests of this state.

§13-1-2. Purposes for which bonds may be issued.

Debt may be incurred and bonds issued under this article for the purpose of acquiring, constructing and erecting, enlarging, extending, reconstructing or improving any building, work, utility or undertaking, or for furnishing, equipping and acquiring or procuring the necessary apparatus for any building, work, improvement or department, or for establishing and maintaining a library or museum for the public use, or a building or structure for educational purposes, or acquiring a recreation park for the public use, or for acquiring, constructing, furnishing, equipping and maintaining civic arenas, auditoriums, exhibition halls and theaters, or for other similar corporate purpose, or for the acquiring, constructing, maintaining, repairing, improving public roads and transportation facilities, for which the political division is authorized to levy taxes or expend public money. But no bonds shall be issued for the purpose of providing funds for the current expenses of any body or political division. Interest accruing during the construction period, that is to say, the time when an improvement is under construction and six months thereafter, shall be deemed a part of the cost of the improvement, and shall not be deemed current expenses. All engineering and inspection costs, including a proper proportion of the compensation, salaries and expenses of the engineering staff of the political division properly chargeable to any work or improvements, as determined by the governing body, or the estimated amount of such costs, shall be deemed part of the cost of an improvement. All costs and estimated costs of the issuance of bonds shall be deemed a part of the cost of the work or improvement, or of the property, or of the carrying out of the purposes for which such bonds are to be issued. The power to acquire or construct any building, work or improvement as herein provided shall be deemed to include the power to acquire the necessary lands, sites and rights-of-way therefor.

Bonds may also be issued by any municipality having a population of fifty thousand or more or by any county for the purpose of acquiring land and constructing a building or buildings for use and occupancy as a college. The proposal for such a bond issue shall contain a provision that there shall be created a commission or committee for the purpose of operating the building or buildings and for renting the same for an amount sufficient to pay the interest and sinking fund on the bonds proposed to be issued, and shall contain a further provision that in the event a sufficient amount is not realized from rent or rents for the purpose of meeting the debt service, then the city or county shall lay a levy for such purpose in an amount sufficient within the constitutional and statutory limitation to pay the interest and principal on such bonds as the same become due and payable. The proposal may also contain a provision that when the bonds and the interest thereon shall have been paid, then the title to the land and the building or buildings situated thereon may be transferred to the college to which the same have been rented.

§13-1-3. Amount and purpose of indebtedness for which bonds may be issued.

No political division authorized by this article to issue bonds, except county boards of education, shall by any bond issue, become indebted to an amount, including all other indebtedness, exceeding two and one-half percent of the value of the taxable property therein, as shown by the last assessment thereof, for state and county purposes, next prior to the issuing of such bonds: Provided, That any county for the erection and equipment of a courthouse and/or jail for such county, with funds borrowed from the government of the United States or any governmental agency, federal or state, and any municipal corporation of three hundred inhabitants or more, for the purpose of grading, paving, sewering, and otherwise improving or reimproving its streets and alleys, or for establishing and maintaining a library or museum for the public use, or a building or structure for educational purposes, or acquiring a recreation park for the public use, or for acquiring, constructing, furnishing, equipping and maintaining civic arenas, Auditoriums, exhibition halls and theaters, may become indebted and issue bonds in an additional sum not exceeding two and one-half percent of the value of the taxable property therein, ascertained as aforesaid: Provided, however, That no county board of education authorized by this article to issue bonds, shall, by any bond issue, become indebted, in any manner, or for any purpose, to an amount, including all other indebtedness, in the aggregate, exceeding five percent on the value of the taxable property therein, in the county school district to be ascertained by the last assessment for state and county taxes, previous to the incurring of such indebtedness, in the manner provided by the "School Bond Amendment," as ratified.

The term "sewering" as used herein shall be treated in a comprehensive sense, so as to include all mains, laterals, connections, traps, incinerating and disposal plants, and other necessary and convenient accessories to a modern sanitary and efficient sewerage system and shall include storm sewers.

The county court of any county is hereby authorized and empowered to negotiate and sell to the government of the United States or to any governmental agency, federal or state, at private sale, at not less than par any bonds issued for the purpose of erecting and equipping a courthouse or other public buildings for such county, under and by virtue of this article, without first offering them for sale at public auction, or to any other person or agency.

No debt shall be contracted or bonds issued under this article until all questions connected with the same are first submitted to a vote of the qualified electors of the political division for which the bonds are to be issued, and receive three fifths of all the votes cast for and against the same: Provided, That a county board of education may contract indebtedness and issue bonds for public school purposes when submitted to a vote of the people of the county if the question of contracting indebtedness and issuing bonds is approved by a majority of all the votes cast for and against the same pursuant to section ten, article X of the Constitution. The governing body of any political division referred to in this article may, and when requested so to do by a petition in writing, praying that bonds be issued and stating the purpose and amount thereof, signed by legal voters of the political division equal to twenty percent of the votes cast in a county for Governor, or in a municipal corporation or school district for mayor or member of the Board of Education, as the case may be, shall, by order entered of record, direct that an election be held for the purpose of submitting to the voters of the political division all questions connected with the contracting of debt and the issuing of bonds. The order shall state:

(a) The necessity for issuing the bonds or, if a petition has been filed as provided herein, that the petition has been filed;

(b) If for the construction of a county-district road or bridge thereon, a summary of the engineer's report provided for in the following section setting forth the approximate extent and the estimated cost of the proposed improvement and the kind or class of work to be done thereon;

(c) Purpose or purposes for which the proceeds of bonds are to be expended;

(d) Valuation of the taxable property as shown by the last assessment thereof for state and county purposes;

(e) Indebtedness, bonded or otherwise;

(f) Amount of the proposed bond issue;

(g) Maximum term of bonds;

(h) Maximum rate of interest;

(i) Date of election;

(j) That the levying body is authorized to lay a sufficient levy annually to provide funds for the payment of the interest upon the bonds and the principal at maturity and the approximate rate of levy necessary for this purpose;

(k) In the case of school bonds, that the bonds, together with all existing bonded indebtedness, will not exceed in the aggregate five percent of the value of the taxable property in the school district ascertained in accordance with section eight, article X of the Constitution; and that the bonds will be payable from a direct annual tax levied and collected in each year on all taxable property in the school district sufficient to pay the principal and the interest maturing on the bonds in that year, together with any deficiencies for prior years, within, and not exceeding thirty-four years, which tax levies will be laid separate and apart and in addition to the maximum rates provided for tax levies by school districts on the several classes of property in section one, article X of the Constitution, but in the same proportions as the maximum rates are levied on the several classes of property; and the tax may be levied outside the limits fixed by section one, article X of the Constitution.

Any other provision which does not violate any provision of law, or transgress any principle of public policy, may be incorporated in the order.

§13-1-5. Engineer's estimate.

Before ordering an election on the question of issuing bonds to construct a county-district road or bridge, whether acting on its own motion or on petition, the county court shall instruct the county road engineer, or some other engineer designated by it for the purpose, to make an investigation and furnish to the court an estimate of the probable cost of the proposed improvement.

§13-1-6. Bonds may be specified for more than one purpose; single or general purpose defined.

The order or ordinance submitting the proposition of issuing bonds to a vote may specify more than one purpose for which bonds are to be issued: Provided, That the amount of the proceeds of the issue to be used for each purpose shall also be specified therein: Provided further, That all expenditures, including but not limited to expenditures for the acquisition of sites, the construction, erection, equipping and furnishing of one or more buildings, structures, improvements or facilities, or group of buildings, structures, improvements or facilities, and the relocation, alteration, renovation or enlargement of any existing buildings, structures, improvements or facilities, or group of buildings, structures, improvements or facilities, for the same general purpose shall be construed to be a single purpose within the meaning of this section. It shall not be necessary to specify in the order or ordinance submitting the proposition the amount of the proceeds of such bond issue to be used for each such site, building, structure, improvement or facility, or group of buildings, structures, improvements or facilities, which are a part of the same general purpose and it shall be sufficient compliance with this section if such order or ordinance state only the general purposes for which bonds are to be issued and the amount of the proceeds of such issue to be used for each such general purpose.

§13-1-6a. When proceeds of bond issue specified for one project may be used for another project.

If the order or ordinance submitting the proposition of issuing bonds to a vote specifies several projects within the same general purpose and the amount of the proceeds of such issue to be used for each project and for any reason one or more of said projects cannot be constructed, carried out, or completed, the amount of money specified for such projects and any sums remaining unused upon completion of any one of the specified projects may be allocated by the governing body in its discretion to and expended for any one or more of the remaining projects specified in said order or ordinance if said order or ordinance of submission shall contain a provision authorizing it to do so.

§13-1-7. When election to be held.

Elections for the purpose of voting upon questions of issuing bonds may be held at any general, primary, or special election which the fiscal body in its order submitting the same to a vote may designate, except that, when a petition is filed asking that bonds be issued, the fiscal body with which the same is filed, if it be not designated in the petition that the election shall be held at a general or primary election, shall order a special election to be held within sixty days from the date of the filing of such petition; or, if it be a petition for bonds for the construction of county-district roads or bridges thereon, the election shall be held within sixty days from the filing of the engineer's report as provided for in section five of this article.

§13-1-8. Publication of notice of election.

Notice of all bond elections shall be given by publication, within fourteen consecutive days next preceding the date of the election, of the order provided for in section four of this article as a Class II-O legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the political division in which the election is to be held.

§13-1-9. Registration of voters.

The registration of voters and the use of registration books prescribed by general law shall be applicable to any election under this chapter.

§13-1-10. Election precincts.

Elections for bond issues for counties, districts and school districts shall be held at the voting precincts established for holding general elections; for municipalities, at the precincts established for the election of municipal officers; and for independent school districts, at the precincts used for voting for boards of education.

§13-1-11. General election laws to apply; recorders and secretaries to act in lieu of circuit clerks.

All the provisions of the general election laws of this state concerning general, primary or special elections, when not in conflict with the provisions of this article, shall apply to bond elections hereunder, insofar as practicable: Provided, That in bond elections for municipalities, school or independent school districts, the recorders and secretaries, respectively, shall procure and furnish to the election commissioners at each voting precinct the ballots, pollbooks, tally sheets and other things necessary for conducting the election, and perform all duties imposed by law upon clerks of the circuit courts in relation to general elections.

§13-1-12. Form of ballot.

The ballots to be used at elections under this article shall be in substantially the following form:

"Shall ................... (name of political division) incur debt and issue bonds to the amount of $............, to run not more than ............ years from the date thereof, with interest not exceeding the rate of ........ percent per annum, for the purpose of ............, and levy taxes sufficient to pay the interest on and the principal of such bonds.

/ / Yes.

/ / No.

NOTICE TO VOTERS: To vote in favor of the proposition submitted on this ballot, place an X mark in the square before the word "Yes."

To vote against it, place a similar mark before the word "No."

§13-1-13. Time and manner of canvassing returns.

The authorities calling bond elections shall canvass the returns at the same time with reference to the election and in the same manner as is required of county commissions for general elections: Provided, That the county commission is the board of canvassers to canvass the returns of bond elections called by the board of education.

§13-1-14. Resolution authorizing issuance and fixing terms of bonds.

If the required amount of all the votes, pursuant to section four of this article, cast for and against the proposition to incur debt and issue negotiable bonds is in favor of the same, the governing body of the political division shall, by resolution, authorize the issuance of the bonds in an amount not exceeding the amount stated in the proposition; establish the maximum rate or rates of interest which the bonds shall bear within the maximum rate stated in the proposition submitted to vote; require that the bonds shall be made payable at the office of the Municipal Bond Commission and at any other place or places as the body issuing the same designates; provide for a sufficient levy to pay the annual interest on the bonds and the principal at maturity; fix the times within the maximum period, as contained in the proposition submitted to vote, when the bonds shall become payable, which shall not exceed thirty-four years from the date thereof; determine whether all or a portion of the bonds will be subject to redemption prior to the maturity thereof; and prescribe a form for executing the bonds authorized.

§13-1-15. Bonds to be payable in annual or semiannual installments.

Bonds shall be made payable in annual or semiannual installments beginning not more than three years after the date thereof and the amount payable in each year may be so fixed that when the annual interest is added to the principal amount to be paid, the total amount payable in each year in which part of the principal is payable shall be as nearly equal as practicable. Once principal payments commence, it shall be an immaterial variance if the difference between the largest and smallest amounts of principal and interest payable annually or semiannually during the term of the bonds shall not exceed five percent of the total authorized issue. Bonds may be payable in annual or semiannual installments beginning not more than three years after the date thereof, each installment being as nearly equal in principal amount as practicable.

§13-1-15a. Bonds may be subject to redemption.

All or a portion of the bonds may be subject to redemption prior to the maturity thereof at the option of the body issuing the same as established by resolution of the governing body authorizing the bonds. The body issuing the bonds may not levy taxes in connection with the redemption of any bonds in excess of the taxes that would have been levied for the payment of principal of and interest on the bonds in any year.

§13-1-16. Recital of certification that bonds are issued in conformity with Constitution and statutes; effect thereof with Attorney General's endorsement.

The resolution authorizing the bonds provided for in section fourteen of this article may direct that they contain the following recital:

"It is certified that this bond is authorized by and is issued in conformity with the requirements of the Constitution and Statutes of the State of West Virginia."

The recital, when the bonds have been endorsed by the Attorney General as provided in section twenty-eight of this article, are considered an authorized declaration by the governing body of the political division and to import that there is Constitutional and statutory authority for incurring the debts and issuing the bonds; that all the proceedings therefor are regular; that all the acts, conditions and things required to exist, happen and be performed precedent to and in the issuance of the bonds have existed, happened and been performed in due time, form and manner as required by law; that the amount of the bond and the issue of which it forms a part, together with all other indebtedness, does not exceed any limit or limits prescribed by the Constitution or statutes of this state; and that all questions connected with incurring the debt and issuing the bonds have been first submitted to a vote of the people and have received the required amount of all the votes, pursuant to section four of this article, cast for and against the same at an election regularly called and held for the purpose after notice published and posted in the manner required by law. If any bond be issued containing the recital, and also containing the endorsement of the Attorney General as aforesaid, it shall be conclusively presumed that the recital, construed according to the import hereby declared, is true and neither the political division nor any taxpayer thereof shall be permitted to question the validity or regularity of the obligation in any court or in any action or proceeding.

§13-1-17. Bonds shall be registered.

The bonds issued hereunder shall be issued only in fully registered form and shall carry registration privileges as set forth in the resolution authorizing the bonds.

§13-1-18.

Repealed.

Acts, 2009 Reg. Sess., Ch. 23.

§13-1-19. Signing, sealing and delivery of bonds.

All bonds issued under this article by any county shall be signed by the president of the county commission and countersigned by the clerk of the county commission; bonds issued by any municipality shall be signed by the mayor or other chief executive and countersigned by the clerk, recorder or secretary; bonds issued by a county board of education shall be signed by the president of the Board of Education and countersigned by the secretary thereof. The seal of the political division shall be affixed to the bonds. The delivery of any bonds so executed at any time thereafter shall be valid, although before the date of delivery the person signing the bonds shall have ceased to hold office.

§13-1-20. Imposition and collection of tax to pay bonds and interest.

It shall be the duty of the governing body of any political division, at or before the time of issuing bonds under this article, to provide for the imposition and collection annually of a tax, in excess of all other taxes, on all property subject to taxation by the political division under the Constitution and laws of this state, sufficient in amount to pay annually the interest on such debt and the principal thereof falling due in each year, such tax to be levied and collected by the same officers, at the same time and in the same manner as the general taxes of the political division. Should any political division neglect or fail for any reason to impose or collect such tax for the payment of the principal or interest of any bonded indebtedness incurred under this article, any person in interest or the State Tax Commissioner may enforce the imposition and collection thereof in any court having jurisdiction of the subject matter, and any suit, action or proceeding brought for such purpose shall be heard and disposed of with reasonable dispatch.

§13-1-21. Advertisement and sale of bonds.

The governing body of the political division issuing bonds pursuant to this article shall sell the same and collect the proceeds, which proceeds shall be deposited with its treasurer. The governing body of the political division shall advertise such bonds for sale, on sealed bids or electronic bids if the governing body elects to utilize an electronic bidding procedure, which advertisement shall be published as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code and the publication area for the publication shall be the political division. The first publication shall be made at least fourteen days before the date fixed for the reception of bids. The advertisement shall also be published in the Bond Buyer or similar publication and the advertisement may be published electronically: Provided, That all advertisements required by this section may consist of an abbreviated notice of the sale of the bonds. The governing body may reject any and all bids. If the bonds are not sold pursuant to the advertisement, they may, within one hundred twenty days after the date advertised for the reception of bids, be sold by the governing body at private sale, but no private sale shall be made at a price less than the highest bid which is received. If not sold, the bonds shall be readvertised in the manner herein provided. In no event shall bonds be sold for less than their par value.

§13-1-22. Purposes for which proceeds to be used; purchaser need not see to application thereof.

The proceeds derived from the sale of any bonds shall be used only for the purpose or purposes for which the bonds were issued as set out in the order or ordinance submitting the question to vote, but the purchaser of the bonds shall not be obliged to see to the application thereof.

§13-1-23. No law, order, ordinance, resolution, proceeding or publication necessary except as prescribed by this article.

This article shall, without reference to any other act of the Legislature, be full authority for the issuance and sale of bonds in this article authorized. No order, ordinance, resolution or proceeding in respect to the issuance of any bond under this article shall be necessary, except such as are required by this article. No publication of any order, ordinance, resolution or proceeding relating to the issuance of such bonds shall be necessary except such as is required by this article. Any publication prescribed hereby may be made in any newspaper conforming to the terms of this article, without regard to designation thereof as the official journal of the political division.

§13-1-24. Legal status of bonds.

Bonds issued under this article, except to the extent that their status shall be affected by registration made in pursuance of this article, shall have all the qualities of negotiable paper under the law merchant and shall not be invalid for any irregularity or defect in the proceedings for the issuance thereof, and shall be incontestable in the hands of bona fide purchasers or holders thereof for value.

§13-1-25. Copy of proceedings to be transmitted to Attorney General for approval or disapproval; publication of approval or disapproval.

The governing body of any political division issuing bonds under this article shall, as soon as practicable after the result of the election authorizing their issuance shall have been officially ascertained, transmit to the Attorney General a duly certified copy of all orders, ordinances, proclamations, notices, advertisements, affidavits, resolutions and records of all the proceedings connected with or pertaining to such bond issue, and any other matters relative thereto which the Attorney General may require. The Attorney General shall thereupon either approve or disapprove the validity of such bond issue, and shall immediately notify the governing body of the political division which authorized the issuance of the bonds of his action by mail, and as soon as practicable notify the people of such political division of his approval or disapproval of such bond issue, by causing notice thereof to be published as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the political division.

§13-1-26. Review in Supreme Court of Appeals of action of Attorney General.

For a period of ten days from and after the date of the last publication of the notice of the Attorney General of his action in approving or disapproving the validity of any bond issue as provided in the preceding section, any person in interest, or any taxpayer within the political division for which the bonds are authorized to be issued, may present his or its petition to the Supreme Court of Appeals or to a judge thereof in vacation, praying that the action of the Attorney General in approving or disapproving such bond issue, as aforesaid, be reversed or modified; and if the court, or such judge thereof in vacation, be of the opinion to hear and determine the matters in such petition set out, the case shall be proceeded with as in cases of original jurisdiction; but the petitioner shall file with the clerk of the court a bond, with security to be approved by him and in such sum as the court or judge may fix, for the payment of such costs as may be awarded against him in said court. The clerk of the court shall forthwith notify the Attorney General and the governing body of the political division which authorized the issuance of the bonds of the action taken by the court or judge in vacation upon such petition, and for the hearing thereof the Attorney General shall file with the clerk of said court all papers, documents, evidence and records, or certified copies thereof, which were before him and on which he based his approval or disapproval; and before the day fixed for final hearing, he shall file with the clerk of said court a written statement of his reasons for the approval or disapproval of the bond issue. Upon the submission of the case, the court shall decide the matters in controversy and enter such order thereon as to it may seem to be just.

§13-1-27. Bond issue and tax to pay bonds to be incontestable upon failure to file petition for review or dismissal thereof.

If no person in interest or taxpayer shall within ten days from and after the date of the last publication of the notice of the Attorney General of his action in approving or disapproving the validity of any bond issue, as provided in this article, present his or its petition to the Supreme Court of Appeals or to a judge thereof in vacation praying that the action of the Attorney General be reversed or modified, as hereinbefore provided, or if such petition be filed and the court or judge be of the opinion not to hear and determine the matters in such petition set out, the action of the Attorney General shall be final and no other appeal shall be allowed therefrom; and the bond issue approved by him shall become incontestable and shall be a valid and binding obligation upon the authority issuing the same and upon the taxable property within the political division which authorized the bond issue by the vote of the people therein; and no one shall thereafter have the right to contest in any court or in any action or proceeding the legality of any election held under this article, the bond issue provided for, or the tax required to pay the same, for any cause whatsoever.

§13-1-28. Indorsement on bonds by Attorney General.

After ten days shall have elapsed from and after the date of the last publication of the Attorney General's notice provided for in section twenty-five of this article, if no proceeding be pending to have his approval of the bond issue reversed and modified, the Attorney General shall indorse upon each and every bond of the issue so approved by him his certificate to the effect that such bond has been approved by him by virtue of the authority vested in him by this article; that notice of his approval was published as required by section twenty-five of this article; that ten days have elapsed since the date of the last publication of such notice; that there has been no appeal from his decision to the Supreme Court of Appeals; and that the bond has become incontestable and is a binding obligation upon the authority issuing the same and upon the taxable property within the political division, and that the validity of such bond shall not be contested thereafter in any court or in any action or proceeding for any cause whatsoever.

§13-1-29. Costs of proceedings and expenses of Attorney General to be paid out of proceeds of bonds or general fund.

The cost of publishing the notice to taxpayers as herein provided, and the costs of certifying and copying all records, papers and proceedings to be used by the Attorney General in passing upon the validity of the bond issue, and all necessary expense incurred by the Attorney General in connection with any bond issue, shall be paid by the authority issuing such bonds out of the proceeds arising from the sale thereof, if the same be finally approved, and if the bond issue be disapproved, such expense shall be paid out of the General Fund of such authority.

§13-1-30. Files and records to be kept by Attorney General.

The Attorney General shall keep on file in his office the papers pertaining to any bond issue submitted to him and shall record his findings of approval or disapproval in a well-bound book kept for that purpose in his office, which shall be open for inspection by anyone in interest during business hours.

Nothing contained in this article shall affect in any way proceeding heretofore begun by the governing body of any political division to issue bonds under the authority of any statutes of this state heretofore in force. Such proceedings may be completed under the statute under which the same were begun and under the provisions of this article so far as the same can be made applicable thereto. Nor shall anything contained in this article invalidate any indebtedness heretofore incurred under a law then existing.

§13-1-32. Amount of indebtedness authorized by §13-1-3 may be increased by special act as to municipalities and independent school districts; bonds for assessments against abutting property excepted from this article.

Notwithstanding the provisions of section three of this article, when by a special act of the Legislature any municipality or independent school district is authorized to become indebted for any purpose or purposes in a greater amount than is fixed by said section three, bonds may be issued under this article by such municipality or independent school district in an amount not exceeding that fixed by such special act. This article shall not affect any general or special law providing for the issuing of bonds for any improvement to be paid for in whole or in part by assessment against abutting property.

§13-1-33. Bonds exempt from taxation.

All bonds of the State of West Virginia or of any political subdivision thereof issued hereunder, or under the provisions of chapter eight of this code, shall be exempt from all taxation by the state or by any political subdivision thereof.

§13-1-34. Bonded indebtedness of school districts; annual tax to be levied and collected to pay same; definition of value.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article or of any other law to the contrary, every school district, by and through its Board of Education, shall levy and collect in each year a direct annual tax on all taxable property in such school district sufficient to pay the principle and interest maturing in such year, together with any deficiencies for prior years, within, and not exceeding thirty-four years, on any bonded indebtedness of such school district, now or hereafter contracted, not to exceed five percent of the value of the taxable property therein to be ascertained in accordance with section 8 of article X of the Constitution, which levies shall be laid separate and apart and in addition to the maximum rates provided for tax levies by school districts on the several classes of property specified in section 1, article X of the Constitution, but in the same proportions as such maximum rates are levied on the several classes of property, and which tax may be levied outside the limits fixed by said section 1, article X of the Constitution.

(b) The term "value" as used in this section and in section 8, article X of the Constitution, is used in the same context that the term "value" is used in section 1, article X of the Constitution, and means the "worth in money" of a piece of property -- its market value for ad valorem property tax purposes.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article or any other law to the contrary, every county, by and through its county court, either for or on behalf of the county, or for and on behalf of any magisterial district, or any group of magisterial districts therein, and any municipal corporation, by and through its council or other governing body in lieu thereof, shall levy and collect in each year a direct annual tax on all the taxable property in such county, magisterial district or districts, or municipality sufficient to pay the principal and interest maturing in such year, together with any deficiencies for prior years, within, and not exceeding thirty-four years, on any bonded indebtedness of such county, magisterial district or districts, or municipality, as the case may be, now or hereafter contracted, not to exceed in the aggregate five percent of the value of the taxable property therein, to be ascertained in accordance with section 8, article X of the Constitution, which levies shall be laid separate and apart and in addition to the maximum rates provided for tax levies by such counties, magisterial district or districts, or municipalities, as the case may be, on the several classes of property specified in section 1, article X of the Constitution, but in the same proportions as such maximum rates are levied on the several classes of property, and which tax may be levied outside the limits fixed by said section 1, article X of the Constitution.

The order of the county court, either for or on behalf of the county or for and on behalf of any magisterial district, or any group of magisterial districts therein, or of any municipal corporation, by its council or other governing body in lieu thereof, hereafter adopted calling an election on the issuance of bonds of such county, magisterial district or districts, or municipality, as the case may be, which together with the existing bonded indebtedness of such county, magisterial district or districts, or municipality, as the case may be, will not exceed in the aggregate five percent of the value of the taxable property in such county, magisterial district or districts, or municipality, as the case may be, the value to be ascertained in accordance with section 8, article X of the Constitution, shall contain a statement in substantially the following form:

Such bonds, together with all existing bonded indebtedness of such county, magisterial district or districts, or municipality, as the case may be, will not exceed in the aggregate five percent of the value of the taxable property in such county, magisterial district or districts, or municipality, as the case may be, ascertained in accordance with section 8, article X of the Constitution; and that such bonds will be payable from a direct annual tax levied and collected in each year on all taxable property in such county, magisterial district or districts, or municipality, as the case may be, sufficient to pay the principal and interest maturing on such bonds in such year, together with any deficiencies for prior years, within, and not exceeding thirty-four years, which tax levies will be laid separate and apart and in addition to the maximum rates provided for tax levies by counties, magisterial district or districts, or municipalities, as the case may be, on the several classes of property specified in section 1, article X of the Constitution, but in the same proportions as such maximum rates are levied on the several classes of property; and said tax may be levied outside the limits fixed by section 1, article X of the Constitution.

Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2017 Regular Session
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